


by the grace of the fire and the flames

by jakepuhralta



Category: Buzzfeed Unsolved (Web Series)
Genre: Gen, buzzfeed unsolved - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-14
Updated: 2018-09-21
Packaged: 2019-04-22 19:01:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 19,129
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14315118
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jakepuhralta/pseuds/jakepuhralta
Summary: Shane Madej has to confront his skepticism over the existence of ghosts and demons when his close friend and co-worker Ryan Bergara starts to act strangely.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I read fanfiction even more rarely than I write it, so if this story idea has already been written (I honestly don't have the time to check all 1,200+ results when I searched BuzzFeed Unsolved in ao3's search engine), please tell me and I will delete it immediately if you so wish as I value originality above all else. Hope you enjoy!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shane starts to appreciate the work Ryan has to do for Unsolved.

Shane Madej sighed, amused but slightly annoyed.

Sitting on his rolling desk chair inside the air-conditioned BuzzFeed Video office in Hollywood, California, where he had great access to entertainment, culture, and a wide array of food trucks which Los Angeles was known for, he knew he couldn't really complain. His job was great, he had a girlfriend he could actually see spending the rest of his life with, his co-workers were great, and the owner of the hotdog place gave him another hotdog on the house just because he thought Shane was funny just last week. His life was great.

But sometimes... he didn't know about Ryan.

He loved Ryan like a brother. A younger one. Or maybe like a puppy that he never had but begged for throughout his childhood. But sometimes, being around him was just _exhausting._

"Seriously, man? You don't like it?" Ryan Bergara, Shane's co-worker, as well as the creator and co-host of the web series Shane co-stars in, _BuzzFeed Unsolved,_ looked at him in disbelief. The two of them were looking over at Ryan's computer screen. They were scrolling through a website for an abandoned hotel in Maine but was now turned into a tourist attraction. In all honesty, Shane thought it was a bit generic. It was nothing they haven't seen or been to before in the show. He knew it was just going to be him standing in a dark, stuffy room, insulting beings that didn't exist, getting cobwebs in his hair, and possibly swallowing an insect or two. After a while, it all starts to look alike.

"Look, Ryan. It's not that I don't like it. It's just that I don't care. We've worked together for four years now, and I've been doing this show with you for two. You ask for my opinion every single time you research locations, but my opinions remain unchanged. I don't _care_ where we go, because I don't believe in ghosts, or demons, or any of that supernatural stuff. That's literally how the show works. You freak out whenever you hear something creak, and I make fun of you as the skeptic in the pair," Shane said.

"Yeah, I know, but as one-half of the Ghouligans, I still deem it important that I ask you for your opinion because if I don't, it's gonna make me feel like a tyrant. You're part of the team so you get a say in it as much as I do and I take this very seriously," Ryan said earnestly. 

Shane chortled. This reminded him of the time they went to the Waverly Hills Sanatorium in Kentucky. It was a humongous abandoned hospital for people with tuberculosis back in the 1910's. Ryan threw a ball into a dark hallway which was allegedly haunted by the ghost of a little boy named Timmy. After the ball disappeared into the darkness, Ryan looked at Shane and said, "Let's go find the ball." It was the most serious Shane had ever seen Ryan, but this moment at their office right now was right up there.

"Well, that's very sweet of you to say, Ryan, but... I just don't care," Shane shrugged. "Hey, at least this means there aren't really any objections about us going there. We can go wherever you want." Shane turned back to his computer.

"Man... sometimes I do wish you cared just a little bit. I know you're the non-believer and that's the dynamic of the show, but you don't _have_ to believe in the paranormal to have an opinion on where we should go," Ryan said a little dejectedly. 

Shane sighed exasperatedly. "Alright, fine." If Ryan really wanted him to care, he would care _very much,_ even unnecessarily, and he hoped that would make up for all the times he didn't care, and maybe Ryan won't even bother him in the future anymore. Not until next season, if he was lucky.

He rolled his chair closer to Ryan's computer. "I don't like that place. It looks too generic. And the fact that it's a popular tourist attraction in that town in Maine makes it seem...commercialized."

 _"Now_ we're getting somewhere!" Ryan grinned and raised his hand for a high-five. "I'm excited for this, man. I can't wait to see what you're gonna come up with. A skeptic in charge of where a paranormal investigation show is taking place? This has _got_ to be different."

"Oh, it will be, alright," Shane said. "I'll let you know when I've found something good."

"Looking forward to it, dude."

~

He had nothing.

It had been four hours since Ryan had asked him for his opinion on scouting locations, and he had found _nothing_ that could impress Ryan or prove to him that Shane would absolutely nail it the first and probably only time he has bothered to care about locations for Unsolved. He totally thought he could look for it in five, maybe ten minutes, but after Ryan had asked him about six times if he's found anything yet, finally, he had to say, "You know what, Ryan? I want to keep you in suspense. I'll tell you the location at the end of the work day, how about that?" 

During those four hours, Ryan had gone out to meet his girlfriend Helen for his lunch break, Zach Kornfeld from the Try Guys had asked him if he wanted to be in a video ("Not now, Zach, can't you see I'm busy?"), and his co-workers had thrown a small impromptu birthday gathering for their co-worker Steven Lim out on the terrace, and still. He had not found jack worth travelling to for shooting an episode of Unsolved.

Researching 'haunted' locations was not an easy task, Shane realised. He had grown to appreciate the work that Ryan did for this show, and felt bad about all the times he had dismissed him whenever he asked for his opinion, not just on locations but about anything regarding the show. This was the least productive Shane had ever been since he could remember working at BuzzFeed.

He was getting desperate. There were only 45 minutes left to the work day. Ryan was at a Taste Test shoot on the other side of the building, but Shane estimated it would end in about half an hour. He had to act fast.

He pulled up Craigslist, made an account, then began to type.

**SEEKING:**

**ALLEGEDLY HAUNTED LOCATION TO FILM AN EPISODE OF BUZZFEED UNSOLVED. MUST BE IN THE UNITED STATES. PREFERABLY WILL NOT TAKE UNNECESSARY TRAVEL FROM THE LOS ANGELES COUNTY AREA (ONE PLANE RIDE IS FINE, TWO IS PUSHING IT). WILL PAY TOP DOLLAR. CONTACT asstshanemadej@buzzfeed.com.**

He waited. After fifteen minutes, a push notification from his email appeared at the top of his screen. He clicked on it.

There was a reply.

**from: j_fad695@gmail.com**

**Subject: Craigslist ad**

**I live in a haunted house in Pasadena. It was built in the 40's. I know it's haunted because the previous owner told me that three girls tried to summon a demon in the 1970's. Two of them were found dead in the house. The other one went missing and was never found. My two-year-old daughter now has an imaginary friend named 'Rachel' who, coincidentally, is the name of the girl who was never found after that night she tried to summon a demon with her friends. The address is 312 Orchard Street, Pasadena 91123.**

Jackpot.

Despite Shane's absolute disbelief in all things paranormal, he knew this house was right up Ryan's alley. He pumped his fist in the air.

"What are you celebrating? Are you finally going to tell me where we're going?" Ryan said, standing behind him.

Shane turned around, a huge grin on his face. "Ryan, you're gonna be in for a treat."

-end of Chapter One-


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shane meets with the owner of a potential filming location for Unsolved.

"It's a haunted house in Pasadena. And that's all I'm going to say for now."

Shane closed the browser window for his email and stood up from his chair, putting on his jacket. "Wait, what?!" Ryan asked, flabbergasted. "You mean you're not going to tell me anything more about this? How am I supposed to do research?"

"Ryan... I've been thinking. How about...letting me take the reins for this particular episode?" Shane asked.

"Excuse me?"

"Look, I thought about what you said. About how I haven't put in much effort or cared about this show as much as you would've liked. Maybe you can take a little break. Let _me_ do most of the work for this episode. I'll do the research, write the script, meet with whoever I'm supposed to meet...you're still going to do most of the talking in the video, of course..."

Ryan started to look panicked. "Wh-what? Let _you_ be in charge? I-I've done most of the work ever since the show started, I'm not sure that-" he said, his voice cracking.

"I want this to be a surprise for you. I want to prove to you that, even if I don't believe in the paranormal, I've been paying attention this whole time. I want to prove to you that I'm not a burden and that I care about this show as much as you. I promise I won't let you down."

Ryan softened upon hearing that.

"And if this episode ends up being disappointing to you, I'll take all responsibility. I won't ever try to do something like this again, and I'll try to be more enthusiastic when you ask me for my opinions in the future."

Ryan sighed. Shane sounded like he meant it. "Okay, man. Fine. I'll let you keep me in the dark for now. But I swear, if I sense any sort of monkey business from you-"

"No monkey business. I promise." Shane almost laughed. BuzzFeed Unsolved truly was the lovechild of Ryan...and Ryan.

~

Later that night, Shane was sitting in bed, his laptop on his knees. He went home with his girlfriend Sara so they could have dinner together, but after that she left for her own apartment to catch up on some work. With dinner and catching up on his favorite shows on Netflix, he almost forgot that he still had to reply to the email from the person on Craigslist. Almost.

He pulled up his email and clicked 'compose'.

**from: asstshanemadej@buzzfeed.com**

**Subject: Re: Craigslist ad**

**Hello there j_fad695,**

**Thank you for replying! When will be a good time to meet up with you at your address? And do you have a contact number so we can communicate with each other faster?**

**Shane Madej**

Within ten minutes, he got a reply.

**from: j_fad695@gmail.com**

**Subject: Re: re: Craigslist ad**

**Shane,**

**I'm Jasmine. Any day would be good for me as I work from home. My phone number is (914) 366-7940.**

**Regards.**

Shane sighed in relief. So far, so good. Jasmine sounded like the real deal. He's gonna go over there in a couple of days after he's less busy and caught up with his other projects, he'll talk to her about payment and how long they need to use her house for, ask her if there are any rules they need to follow while filming, all that stuff. He's gonna do additional research about the house, write the script for the voiceovers, bring Ryan and the crew over there to shoot the episode, Ryan's going to record his voiceovers, the video will all be put together and finalized. The episode will hopefully be done in time for the next season of Supernatural.

He closed his laptop contentedly, shut off his lamp, and fell asleep.

~

Later that week, Shane was finally feeling his workload get lighter. He had finalized the script for an episode of _Ruining History_ he was working on, fulfilled some camera operating obligations he had signed up for, and actually met deadlines for some other project proposals. He had just texted Jasmine he was coming over that day and she approved. It was 11:24 in the morning on a Thursday. He stood up to leave.

"Where are you going?" Ryan asked. Every time Shane left his desk, he got all jumpy, as if hoping that he was finally going to change his mind about being in charge of the episode. Or at least, change his mind about keeping Ryan in the dark. Shane almost thought it was cute.

"Well, if you must know, I'm actually meeting up with the owner of the haunted house I was telling you about. And _no,_ you can't come. Adios!" Shane said, jogging out of the office and giggling.

Ryan sighed. He picked up the stuffed Paddington Bear he kept on his desk and stared at it somberly. "Oh, Paddington. I'm so bored."

Shane got out of the BuzzFeed Video office building and into the sunny Hollywood street. He put his sunglasses on, surveying the gaggle of colorful people that walked these streets every day. He then walked over to the office parking lot, unlocked his car, and put the address in the GPS system.

The drive took half an hour. Traffic wasn't that bad as it was the middle of the day. 

He was nearing Orchard Street. It was a block away according to the digital map on the dashboard. He pulled over and stopped the car. He needed to think.

 _Am I really going to do this?_ he thought. _Maybe I'm in over my head here. It's_ always _Ryan who decides where we go and he's the one who conducts the interviews with the owners and residents. He just brings me along for teamwork's sake but let's be honest here, he's the ringleader. He's the one who created the show. BuzzFeed Unsolved is his baby. Am I being unfair to him for not bringing_ him _along? What if I screw this up somehow? All episodes of Unsolved have been good so far and it's always Ryan who's been in charge. What if I take the reins for one episode and it ends up being complete shit?_

He stared at his fingers, which have been tapping on the steering wheel the whole time he's been thinking. He took a deep breath.

_Fuck it. I can't back out now._

~

Jasmine's house looked completely normal. Shane wasn't an expert on houses, so he couldn't really tell which era the house was built in, at least not without research. Toys were strewn all around the front yard, so Jasmine hadn't lied about having a two-year-old daughter at least. He rang the doorbell. 

A Southeast Asian woman, who looked to be in her late twenties or early thirties, with light brown skin and long dark hair carrying a toddler in her arms opened the door.

"Hi. Are you Jasmine?" he asked.

"Yes, I am. You're Shane, right? Come on in."

They sat down on a black leather couch that smelled a bit like apple juice. "Sorry about the mess," Jasmine said. "When you have a two-year-old like little Brianna here, you don't really get much time to clean until a new mess has been made," she joked.

"Oh, don't apologize, it's no trouble at all," Shane said. He got out his phone and opened the Notes app to write things down. "So. What made you decide to contact us?"

"I really need the money," Jasmine blurted out with no hesitation. "My husband's between jobs at the moment, I'm a freelance writer and...work is getting scarce. I was looking through Craigslist that day I saw your ad looking for odd jobs. There's a huge possibility that my house _is_ haunted so I might as well make some money off of that. I still don't know where I lie with the 'are ghosts real?' debate, but my house is pretty fucking spooky."

"Cool. Well, _I_ deal with spooky, even though I don't believe in all that paranormal baloney myself. My colleague eats that shit up though."

"Ryan Bergara, right? He's the one who believes in ghosts."

"That he does."

"I almost thought he'd be here with you. Any time someone says 'BuzzFeed Unsolved' it's always the two of you that comes to mind."

"We-ell, Ryan's pretty tied up at the moment, so it's just me today."

"What else do you need to know?" Jasmine asked.

Shane startled. "Oh. Right." He forgot he had to ask more questions. He _really_ wasn't used to this like Ryan was. "Um...what do you know about the house's history and why it might be haunted?"

Brianna was trying to wriggle free from Jasmine's grip. "Oh, you wanna come down, sweetie?" Jasmine cooed. She put Brianna down from her lap and onto the floor, and she waddled away. 

"As I said, it was the previous owner who told me about that story with the three girls. The real estate agent didn't really tell me anything, probably didn't want to put me off with ghost stories, so I had to hear it from Mrs. Hamilton. It's like she tried to warn me. Strange old woman. She was in her late fifties and didn't really have any family as far as I knew. I haven't done any of my own research so all I know is from what she's told me. I forget the year, but it was the early 70's. These three girls who were best friends did this Satanic ritual or whatever, two of them were found dead and one of them just... vanished. That story wouldn't bother me as much because, come on. How true could it be if I hear it from some old woman who seemed like she'd been alone all her life, right? But recently, strange things have been happening. My daughter keeps pointing at things that aren't there, smiling like she's seeing a friend, and saying 'way-chel'. And Rachel just so happens to be the name of the girl that vanished, or so Mrs. Hamilton tells me. Toys that I've tidied up and put in a drawer would be strewn around on the nursery floor, even though Brianna would be fast asleep _in her crib._ Temperatures would just randomly drop even though it's eighty degrees outside. The TV would suddenly turn on even though I checked and it _wasn't_ on a timer. Stuff like that. At first I just thought my mind had been a little muddled up, that I was just imagining things, but it keeps happening. Either I'm going insane or something in this house is messing with me."

Shane let in a low whistle, typing his notes. This was a lot to take in. Jasmine sounded like a pretty scatterbrained mom. And toddlers do all that kooky stuff and point at nothing for no reason. It's what they do.

Suddenly, they heard a sob. The two of them turned to look. Brianna was staring and pointing at something that stood between the front room, where Shane and Jasmine were seated, and the kitchen. But there was nothing there.

Brianna started to fully cry, her face turning red and wet with tears. She screeched, still pointing.

Jasmine stood up and picked her up off the floor. "What's wrong, sweetie? There's nothing there." Brianna started to cry louder.

Shane stood up too. "Thanks for your time, Jasmine. BuzzFeed pays tenants $100 for every hour we use the location, but we can negotiate that. I'll do more research about your house, and if there's something we can work with, we'll call you and talk about filming. Have a nice day."

Jasmine barely got a word in when Shane walked over to the door and closed it behind him.

He had dismissed all of whatever 'evidence' Ryan has presented to him throughout the show regarding the supernatural and the paranormal, but...

It's different when you witness it with your own two eyes without needing anyone else to convince you it happened.

-end of Chapter Two-


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shane tries to find out more about the haunted house in Pasadena.

"Are you okay, Shane?" Sara Rubin, Shane's girlfriend who is also a video producer at BuzzFeed, asked him at dinner in his apartment.

Shane startled. "Huh?"

"You've been staring into space with the fork in your hand mid-air." Shane did, indeed, have a forkful of pasta raised up to his mouth but had been staring into space instead of eating it. He put the fork back down to his plate, embarrassed.

"What's going on? You've been acting like this all day," Sara said.

Shane took a deep breath, then sighed. "I don't know how to say this."

"I know you went to that woman's house in Pasadena earlier today. Does this have something to do with that? It was your first time going without Ryan."

"Sara, neither of us believes in ghosts, right?"

"Right."

This fact was presented in an episode of _Debatable,_ another BuzzFeed series where participants had to debate one-on-one over topics like pineapple on pizza or shower sex. One of the episodes was whether or not ghosts were real. Shane, who hosted the show, excused himself from hosting duties and debated against Ryan. Sara debated against Tania Safi who, like Ryan, believed in ghosts. 

Shane and Sara were perfect for each other, in that sense.

"And I still don't believe in ghosts, just to be clear. But today was the closest to spooked I've ever been, even though this probably isn't even a tenth of how Ryan feels every time we shoot on location."

"What happened?"

"So the tenant, Jasmine, was telling me about the stuff they've been experiencing at the house. The stuff just sounded like the typical absentmindedness of some people, you know? But she also said that her two-year-old kept pointing at stuff that wasn't there and I thought, oh she just has an imaginary friend or something, that's how toddlers are."

"And?"

"We were talking, and Jasmine put her daughter down on the floor, then she started pointing at something and crying. At first I thought she probably saw a spider, but she wasn't pointing at a wall, she was pointing at _air._ And she was _sobbing._ I mean, it still could've been nothing, just typical toddler stuff, but... it's different when you see it happen in front of you. So it kind of crossed the 'attention-seeking parent makes stuff up' off the list. And it wasn't something like a faulty flashlight blinking on and off or random sounds from the fuckin' spirit box. It was an actual _human._ And I guess that kind of unnerved me a little bit."

Sara stared at Shane. "I see."

"I dunno, maybe Ryan's getting to me. I _have_ been doing all the work lately and I might just be starting to think like him or something." Shane finally went back to eating, shoving a forkful of pasta in his mouth.

He swallowed it, but it did not go down smoothly.

~

Shane arrived at the BuzzFeed Video office early to begin research for the house in Pasadena. Not a lot of his workmates were there yet, including Ryan.

Truth be told, this location was different from all but one of the other locations they have investigated throughout the history of Unsolved: Supernatural, as the house isn't a widely-known 'historic' location. The only other location that was similar to Jasmine's house was the Sallie House in Kansas. It did not have any historic significance behind it, but it was famous with locals and the paranormal community for being severely haunted.

Shane opted out of all new project proposals at BuzzFeed until he was done doing research on the house so he could focus. That day he only planned on doing research and writing the script, with filming some videos he had already signed up for in between. Obviously he knew how to do research, as he had to do it a lot for _Ruining History,_ but it was his first time conducting research on a location for Unsolved, so he needed all the focus he can get. It didn't help that the location wasn't historically significant.

It was just a house, built in the 1940's, in Pasadena, where three girls supposedly conducted a ritual to summon a demon.

A ritual that killed two of them and took one.

From an objective point of view, of course Shane thought it was creepy. He wasn't a robot. He's watched horror movies and knew what it was like to feel spooked. Of course he thought the fact that two girls wound up dead with their friend missing was creepy. But at that point, he knew it was probably just some pervert, a predator and rapist who took their friend and killed the two girls in the process when they tried to fight back.

He pulled up Google. He searched for 'two girls dead, missing girl, Pasadena 1970's'.

He combed through the search results. He eliminated news articles that didn't occur in Jasmine's neighbourhood. His search terms gave him articles that had to do with all missing and murdered girls in Pasadena, but they were all about girls who died or disappeared by themselves, not with friends. He realised how hard researching was when he didn't even have an exact date to start with, just a decade.

It was too hard searching that way. He decided to start researching from the beginning forward, instead of backwards. He entered Jasmine's address: 312 Orchard Street, Pasadena 91123.

Google brought up more specific results. Shane read one of the headlines and sighed in relief and triumph. Finally, an article that might be just what he was looking for.

It was an old newspaper article from the Pasadena Star-News, dated 18 July 1974. A passage said:

**Authorities currently have no leads to the whereabouts of 16-year-old Rachel Platt. While the reason behind the apparent double murder of Hannah Green and Blaire Rodriguez at the house on Orchard Street is still unclear, it has been assumed that a predator has abducted Rachel and killed Hannah and Blaire during the struggle. Homicide investigators have also not crossed off the possibility of Platt as a suspect in the murder of her two friends.**

Shane sat back in contentment but also slight horror. So he was right.

**However, the scene of the crime was littered with what looked like occultist paraphernalia. This continues to baffle authorities as investigations into the true nature of the crime are being conducted.**

But the demon stuff is still true. Neither Jasmine nor this Mrs. Hamilton lied about that.

Throughout the day, Shane continued to do research. He did manage to find out which real estate developer built the house in the 40's, and he found out which high school Rachel, Hannah, and Blair attended. He was disappointed that the information he had gathered only amounted to around a quarter of what Ryan usually manages to collect while researching. He just hoped a lot would happen during the actual filming of the episode. If he and Ryan provided ghostly entertainment to their viewers, despite how baloney he believed it was, maybe they won't notice that there wasn't that much background on the house, or even the three girls themselves.

As for Ryan, Shane didn't see him that much that day. He thought Ryan had been seated at his desk for maybe a total of 20 minutes. He was up and running throughout the office all day, fulfilling filming obligations he had signed up for. Shane was thankful that meant Ryan was too busy to constantly ask him how research was coming along, or to even remember that he was basically being locked out of a show that he created by his own co-host.

For the next few days, Shane wrote the voiceover script for Ryan, as well as gathered clips and images they could use for the narration and sent it to the graphic design and animation team for Unsolved. But there wasn't much to do to until he and Ryan had actually started filming on location.

If Shane was being honest, he was a little nervous. Maybe he had been overconfident with his ability to take the reins on this episode. It would have been one thing for him to take the lead _with Ryan's help,_ but for him to do the work alone, that was a first.

But he couldn't back out now.

"Hey, Ryan," Shane called out to him, walking over to his desk.

"Yeah?"

"I'm basically done doing the research for the house. I even finished writing your script."

"Well, what about-"

"Yes, I've collected the images for graphic design and animation as well."

"But have you-"

"Ryan. It's done. There's nothing more we can do with the episode until we finish filming."

He stares at Shane, blinks a few times.

"So what do you say, buddy? You ready to get scared in a haunted house in Pasadena?"

Despite his generally scared attitude towards ghosts and the supernatural, Ryan couldn't help but beam.

"Take me to the house, Shane."

-end of Chapter Three-


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ryan and Shane begin filming an episode of Supernatural in the house in Pasadena.

"First, we gotta talk about what we're gonna do during filming, right?" Shane asked.

Ryan stared at him incredulously. "Yes, Shane. We've done this for the past fifty-something episodes of Unsolved."

"Just making sure," Shane shrugged, amused. 

They went to a meeting room that Shane had booked. Once they were seated, he opened his laptop and pulled up a document.

And just like that, they started planning.

~

The sun had almost disappeared when they finally drove over to Orchard Street. Ryan was driving as per usual, not giving the viewers any hints that Shane was in charge for the episode they were currently filming. Their friend and cameraman for the day, TJ Marchbank, sat in the backseat, getting shots of the beautiful orange sunset through the car's windshield, Ryan's and Shane's half-silhouettes in the foreground.

"You nervous?" Shane asked.

"You know me! I'm always nervous whenever we film for Supernatural... but I'm straight-up terrified whenever we film demon episodes," Ryan replied.

In all honesty, Ryan and Shane didn't need to have this conversation. This was more for the viewers' sake than their own.

A couple of days before, once they finished planning, Shane had called Jasmine and set up a day and time for filming. Jasmine and her family had packed up some clothes and went to her husband's parent's house in Long Beach for the weekend.

The three of them got out of the car, TJ just behind Shane and Ryan. They stopped at the front door. Ryan turned to the camera. "As you know, I hate demons and I will only do one demon episode per season."

Jasmine gave Shane the spare house keys just before they left for Long Beach. Shane unlocked the door and they stepped inside.

"This house is daunting," Ryan muttered.

"So where are we, Ryan?" Shane asked.

"This is a residential house in Pasadena, which was built in the 1940's. The current owner that we spoke to said that it was haunted. Admittedly, it was hard to do as much research as we would've liked, because this is a private home and not a historic location or business, but... let's see what this house has in store for us."

They didn't turn on any of the lights, just like in every other Supernatural episode they film. They turned on their flashlights instead, put their bags filled with equipment on Jasmine's couch, and began to set up. Body cameras were turned on and clipped, and tripods were set up in corners of the house that they decided would get the best shots when they surveyed the house earlier that day. Even though most of the planning for the episode was a surprise to Ryan, he wasn't allowed to go into the house blindly for safety reasons. Shane had no choice but to bring Ryan in before they actually started filming, both for safety and because it would be too obvious that Ryan was unprepared when they start filming and he has no idea where to go or which room was where.

They were in the living room, and it got real quiet.

_Showtime._

"Hello? Are there any spirits in here right now?" Ryan asked the room.

"Show us whatcha got!" Shane taunted.

"We uhh... we heard that two teenage girls died in this house? We're not sure in which room. Hannah? Blaire? Are you in here?" 

"Speak to us!"

Somewhere in the darkness, there was a soft creak.

"What was that?" Ryan asked, spooked.

"Huh?"

"Did you hear that?"

"Wh-?"

"There was something like a door opening."

"Nah, I didn't hear it."

"Any spirits in here that want to communicate with us? Are the spirits of Hannah and Blaire in here?" Ryan asked.

They stood there for about two minutes in silence, the sound of Ryan's breathing the only sound. Finally, Shane said, "Nope."

"Alright. Let's go upstairs."

The three of them climbed up the rickety staircase. Even though it wasn't any darker or daunting than downstairs, there was just something so sinister about dark upstairs hallways to Ryan. He just felt like bad things were more likely to happen on the upper floor of a house.

They opened the door of the third room to the left, which was Jasmine's daughter's room and what was used to be Rachel Platt's bedroom.

"Time to whip this bad boy out!" Ryan said, taking out the spirit box.

"Yep. Nothing like eardrum-splitting static to really prove the existence of ghosts," Shane said sarcastically.

Ryan turned on the spirit box and the room was instantly filled with static white noise, the result of scanning radio stations in a remarkable speed which could, possibly, result in human voices speaking a word or two.

"Is there anyone here who would like to communicate with us?" Ryan asked.

Static.

"I understand that this house is allegedly haunted by the spirits of Hannah Green and Blaire Rodriguez. Are either of you here?"

_Hell._

"Did you say 'hell'?" Ryan asked, alarmed.

Static.

"If you want to communicate with us, we have, uhh, a little gadget here that makes it easy for you. It's called the spirit box."

"It's pretty fuckin' annoying though! So I completely understand if you don't want to," Shane added.

"From what we've read, there was never a concrete theory on what was behind your death. Some say your friend murdered you, others say it was the Devil. Can you elaborate on that?"

_She did._

"Did you hear that?!" Ryan yelled. "It sounded like 'she did'." 

"Ehh. It could've been anything."

"Holy shit, dude, I'm losing my mind. It really sounded like an intelligent answer."

"Yeah, I know, to you."

"Okay, uhh. Can you tell us-"

Suddenly, complete silence.

The spirit box turned off by itself.

"What. The. Fuck. Dude. What just happened, holy shit."

"It's probably just the batteries."

"WHAAAAT THE FUCK DUDE."

"Ryan, calm down, check the batteries." Shane shined a flashlight on the spirit box for Ryan's benefit.

"You don't understand, I JUST put new batteries on this thing. That's what I always do on the day of filming, you know that."

"Then the batteries were no good-"

"OHHH MY GOD DUDE, what the fuck is happening right now, my brain's gonna melt-"

"Or maybe the spirit box has finally broken."

Ryan felt like his heart was going to burst through his chest. It was hard to make himself calm down at that moment. The spirit box dying gradually, sure, that was plausible if it was a battery issue. But abruptly turning off by itself? No. That was too fucking weird.

In any case, he got out some fresh batteries that he kept in his pocket and replaced the old ones. He closed the lid. He switched the spirit box on.

Static filled the room.

"See? I told you it was a battery problem," Shane said, vindicated.

Ryan opened his mouth to reply to him, but suddenly, a voice clear as day came from the spirit box amidst the static.

_Goodbye._

And the spirit box turned off by itself again.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH," Ryan screamed.

Shane chuckled. "Okay, dude, it was probably just-"

"I KNOW I WASN'T THE ONLY ONE WHO HEARD THAT. YOU FUCKING HEARD THAT, RIGHT?"

"Yeah, I did."

"AND THEN IT TURNED OFF BY ITSELF AGAIN. AFTER REPLACING THE BATTERIES. IT'S NOT A FUCKING BATTERY PROBLEM."

"It might be because-"

"I AM FUCKING TERRIFIED RIGHT NOW DUDE. THERE IS NOTHING MORE I WANT TO DO THAN GET OUT OF THIS HOUSE IMMEDIATELY. OHHHHH MY GOD."

"Cool your jets, Ryan, the spirit box is bullshit."

"YOU CAN'T TELL ME IT'S BULLSHIT WHEN YOU HEARD THE SAME THING THAT I DID AND THEN IT TURNED OFF BY ITS FUCKING SELF."

"Is this right up there with Sallie House for you?" Shane asked.

"THIS IS WORSE THAN SALLIE HOUSE. THERE IT WAS JUST FLASHLIGHTS BUT THIS WAS AN ACTUAL VOICE."

"Accompanied by the spirit box being faulty."

"IT IS NOT FUCKING FAULTY. IT WAS WORKING FINE BEFORE AND IT ABRUPTLY TURNED OFF BY ITSELF. IT'S NOT BECAUSE OF THE BATTERIES. HOLY SHIT, DUDE. HOOOOOOLY SHIT." Ryan took some deep breaths, and then turned to TJ to address the main camera. "I know I'm not going insane when all of this happened on camera."

Shane couldn't help it. He chuckled.

"This is not fucking funny, dude, you know it isn't."

"Okay, fine, I'm sorry."

"Ryan, do you need to take a minute?" TJ asked behind the camera.

Ryan took several deep breaths. After a moment, he said, "Nah, I'm fine, dude."

He addressed the camera again. "Since there's a bit of paranormal activity within this room specifically, we might do the Ouija board session here. We weren't planning to do this until much later in a different part of the house, but I guess now is a good time to do it."

He walked over to the duffel bag containing their equipment in a corner of the room and took out a Ouija board. They hadn't done a session since they filmed the episode about the Demonic Goatman's Bridge back in Texas.

Shane glanced at Ryan. He knew Ryan was always borderline terrified whenever they filmed for Supernatural, but considering he was scared shitless about the spirit box just before but now was willing to use a Ouija board, he was being pretty fucking brave. Shane smiled to himself. He did not believe in any of this bullshit, but he respected Ryan now more than ever.

Maybe this episode wasn't going to be complete trash.

-end of Chapter Four-


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ryan and Shane use a Ouija board at the house in Pasadena in an attempt to contact the spirits of the two girls who died in it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had to re-watch The Demonic Goatman's Bridge to remember how they used a Ouija board. lmao. Also I did zero research on how demonic possessions usually go, so I just made it up as I went along. Whoops.

"Let's do this!" Shane said with his usual fake enthusiasm whenever they had to engage in rituals for Supernatural. He plopped down on the floor of Rachel Platt's bedroom as Ryan placed the Ouija board in front of him. He then grabbed the candles (to create atmosphere) and the salt (to protect them) from their equipment bag.

"Thanks for helping, by the way," Ryan said sarcastically, as Shane watched him light the candles and pour the salt around them in a circle. 

"Oh, you're doing great, buddy," Shane smirked. To the viewers it was their usual banter, but deep inside, he actually meant it.

Ryan finally sat down across from Shane, the Ouija board between them. He sighed and stared in silence for a few seconds.

"You okay?" Shane asked.

"I just can't let go of what happened with the spirit box. I know nothing can change your mind about the existence of ghosts and the paranormal, but what happened earlier downstairs was out of this world, dude. And you know it."

"Ryan-"

"The answers were intelligent, enunciated clearer than a _majority_ of the answers we got in past episodes, and made more sense. The spirit box turned off by itself even with fresh batteries. I replaced it with new ones, IT SAID GOODBYE, then turned off again. How the fuck do you explain that?"

"You know what, I can't. I can't explain it with my own capabilities. _But,_ when I try to think up of an explanation, 'ghosts' are at the very bottom of the list my mind automatically goes to. I'll give you this one, Ryan, it _was_ very compelling, this is an obvious win for the Boogaras, but the _spirit box_ is never going to be something that's going to make me believe in ghosts."

Ryan looked at him for a moment, then shook his head in that exasperated way of his that only Shane can make him do. "Whatever, let's just do this."

They put their fingers on the planchette then looked at each other. "Same as before, right? We just spell out our names?" Shane asked.

They moved the planchette to S-H-A-N-E, and then to R-Y-A and N.

"Are there any spirits in the house with us right now?" Ryan asked.

The planchette didn't move. They waited ten seconds.

"Okay, I guess we're done here," Shane joked.

"Wait a minute... HOLY SHIT, are you moving it?" Ryan asked.

"No...?"

"It moved like a quarter of an inch, dude, I swear to God."

Shane shrugged.

"To the spirits of Hannah and Blaire, are you here? Would you be willing to communicate with us?" Ryan asked.

Right there and then, so fast and unexpected that their brains didn't have time to process it, the planchette swiftly moved to NO.

Ryan's eyes grew wide, wider than either Shane or TJ has ever seen them, his mouth agape. For once, he was speechless.

Shane chuckled. "Okay, very funny, Ryan."

"I. Didn't. Move. It."

Shane would never admit this in a million years, but something like a chill went down his spine when he heard that. But he didn't show it with his face. "Just ask another question."

Ryan blinked a few times, trying to clear his head. Trying not to panic. He cleared his throat.

"Wh...why not?"

The planchette was still, the clear panel still showing NO. Ryan was about to inwardly sigh in relief when what seemed to be an invisible force, that he could tell was not Shane, moved the planchette, slowly but firmly.

_H-E-S_

Ryan felt tears spring to his eyes. He could not believe what was happening.

_W-A-T-C-H-I-N-G_

Ryan choked back a sob of fear. He was shaking almost visibly, which in turn shook the planchette even with Shane's fingers still on it.

"Are you okay, Ryan? What's wrong?" Shane asked.

"Are you fucking blind, dude? Didn't you SEE what just happened? The planchette moved and spelled out a whole sentence. _He's watching._ This is literally proof that ghosts are real. They literally just communicated to us right this second."

Shane stared at him. "Oh. I thought you were moving it. A bigger win for the Boogaras-"

"ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME RIGHT NOW?" Ryan stood up, knocking back a candle. His face was red and shined with sweat. "CAN'T YOU SEE THERE'S SOMETHING MORE SERIOUS GOING ON HERE? I DIDN'T MOVE IT, SHANE. I KNOW YOU DIDN'T EITHER. THIS ISN'T THE RIGHT TIME TO JOKE. WE COULD BE IN DANGER."

In all the years that Shane had known Ryan, this was the first time this has happened. It wasn't the first time he'd seen Ryan angry, but this was the first time he'd seen Ryan genuinely, seriously _furious_. And it was at him. He looked up at TJ, as if to confirm that this was actually happening. TJ shrugged, just as shocked as he was.

"...Okay, well, calm down, Ryan-"

Ryan immediately sat back down and placed his fingers again on the planchette, as if nothing had happened. His face was blank. Shane stared at him, utterly confused. He was still processing how Ryan had reacted. He had never been seriously angry and _yelled_ at Shane during any filming. Or _ever._

Shane was too busy thinking about Ryan to process what had just happened with the Ouija board. Ryan was still silent, his facial expression still blank.

"Do you...want to ask it another question?" Shane asked cautiously, as if afraid to set Ryan off again. Which he was.

Ryan felt very, very tired. He stared at a spot on the floor just behind Shane. Suddenly, he saw a dark figure began to manifest in a corner of the room. He heard Shane say something, but it sounded warbled, like he was underwater. There was definitely a dark figure in the corner of the room, but he was too tired to react. He felt like there was no energy left in his body, to the point that if he moved his body just an inch, it felt like he would drop dead. 

He saw the dark figure get closer. And closer.

Shane stared at Ryan, who looked like he didn't hear him. "Ryan?" He was starting to get concerned. He looked up at TJ. "What the fuck's wrong with him?"

Ryan didn't move, speak, or blink.

"RYAN!"

All of a sudden, Ryan threw his head back, as if someone had punched him in the chin. He was now writhing on the floor, on his back, with his legs still tucked underneath him, like an interpretive dancer doing a dramatic movement. Just as quickly as he fell down, he brought himself back up again. He was now kneeling, his face still blank.

Shane stared at him, aghast. "What the fuck just happened to you, Ryan?"

At this point, Ryan was just staring into space. He was half aware of what was happening, but it felt like his body and mind were on auto-pilot. Suddenly, everything went black.

Shane couldn't comprehend what was happening. His first thought was Ryan was joking around to make up for yelling at him, but something told him this was no joke. 

Ryan then closed his eyes, in what seemed to be a meditative state. After a moment, he opened them. Then spoke.

"YOU FOOLS. YOU'LL NEVER TAKE THEIR SOULS BACK FROM ME. THEY ARE MINE FOREVER. AND SO IS HIS."

The first thing Shane thought of was: this wasn't Ryan's voice. It sounded like he was using some toy to make his voice sound like Darth Vader's. His second thought was:

_WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCKING HELL IS HAPPENING???!!!_

Ryan closed his mouth, closed his eyes, and passed out.

As TJ dropped the camera and rushed to Ryan, almost slipping on the salt and knocking over the candles... 

Shane knew, in that moment, that their lives were never going to be the same.

-end of Chapter Five-


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shane has to reassess his skepticism and entire viewpoint on the supernatural in light of what happened to Ryan.

The good news was, Ryan was breathing.

TJ dropped their camera to the floor in his rush to Ryan (it clanked so loud that Shane knew it was already damaged and broken and they would have to put it in their report so that BuzzFeed could replace it). He immediately checked Ryan's pulse and heartbeat to make sure he was alive. Shane just sat there on the floor in the house in Pasadena, his jaw open, him irrevocably dumbfounded.

The episode wasn't done filming but obviously that was their cue to leave, finished or not. Shane was bigger than TJ but TJ sensed Shane was still in some sort of shock, so he carried Ryan in his arms and had to repeatedly tell Shane to gather their equipment. Shane's mind was still in static, his body on auto-pilot as he gathered the various equipment bags they had in the room, as well as that damned Ouija board. They hurriedly walked down the rickety old wooden stairs, but anything after that was a blur to Shane.

TJ opened the back door of their car and laid Ryan down on the seat gently, being careful not to hit his unconscious body anywhere. Shane dropped the equipment bags on the ground, walked zombie-like to the door of the front passenger seat, and climbed in, his mind in a daze. TJ automatically picked up the bags and put them in the trunk. He ran up to the driver's side, got in and started the car--Shane obviously didn't want to and _couldn't_ drive. Not with what he had just witnessed.

This happened eight hours ago earlier that night. TJ fished out Ryan's house keys from his jeans pocket then laid him on his bed, and he was about to stay to wait for Ryan to wake up when Shane said, "It's fine, man, go home. I'll stay here. You've done enough already."

Now, staring at Ryan still unconscious in his bed, the sun finally starting to rise, almost mocking the fact that Shane did not sleep a wink and did not leave Ryan's side the entire night, he imagined what could've happened if he had done things differently.

If he had researched more locations.  
If he picked a good location with an actual security team and safety protocols.  
If he had included Ryan in the process from the beginning.  
If he had listened to Ryan once, just once, throughout the night, about everything he experienced.  
If he hadn't been so adamant in proving his worth.  
Maybe none of this would've happened.

But Ryan was alive. He was sleeping. At least for now, he was safe.

Shane would've never forgiven himself if something worse had happened to Ryan. Hell, he found it hard to forgive himself now.

 

~

 

"Shane! Shane! Wake up!"

Shane startled and opened his eyes. He had fallen asleep on the chair in Ryan's bedroom, his arms crossed, drool crusted on his chin. 

Ryan was standing in front of him, shaking him by the shoulders. Shane blinked repeatedly, incredulous. Ryan was standing in front of him, staring at him confusedly. Aside from the fact that he was wearing his clothes from the night before, he looked as normal as ever.

He didn't look like someone who had been possessed by a demon.

"What the hell are you doing here? You're asleep in my room. Why aren't you at home?" Ryan asked.

Shane cleared the sleep from his throat. "Are you saying you don't remember?"

"Remember what?"

"Last night. You don't remember? You don't remember what happened?"

"Uhh. We shot the episode. Then we went home? I dunno, it was all a blur, man. I must've been really tired not to remember everything that happened, considering I didn't even change out of my clothes. Why? What's the matter?"

Shane stared at him.

_Ryan did not remember getting possessed by a demon._

_Holy shit,_ he thought to himself. _What do I do? How do I break this to him?_

Shane stood up. "Uhh, nothing. I meant to say that we all decided to go out for a drink afterwards. I didn't wanna call a cab so I just crashed here. My bad."

"Oh. That's weird. I must've been really wasted not to remember going to a bar but I don't have a hangover. I feel fine."

"Good for you, man. Thanks for letting me crash. I'm gonna bounce." Shane looked around the room a little, making sure he didn't have anything lying around, then looked at Ryan and gave him a chin-nod. "Bye." He walked straight towards the front door of Ryan's apartment.

"Okay, see ya, man."

Shane let the door slam behind him. He pulled out his phone from his pocket, which was on 20 percent. _Great._ His phone wasn't even going to last a car ride through Los Angeles. Quickly, he pulled up the Uber app and ordered a car.

Throughout the entire drive, Shane was stuck with his thoughts. The driver kept trying to make conversation, to which Shane just grunted or gave one-word replies.

But one thought was permanently in his mind.

_He doesn't remember._

The car drove him to his house. He barely muttered a "thanks" before unlocking the front door and collapsing onto his bed, falling deeply asleep. Again.

 

~

 

Shane finally woke up later that day from a completely dreamless sleep. It was Saturday so he didn't have to go to work, but he knew he would have to catch up on work he could've done if he didn't sleep in the middle of the day. He lifted the screen on his phone to look at the time before remembering that he didn't charge it when he got home. He glanced at his window, which was covered with blinds, and the lack of light shining through indicated that the sun was setting. He got up to look at the clock on his kitchen wall. It said 5:12pm.

The events from the night before flooded back into his brain and with it, overwhelming dread and anxiety. He charged his phone so he could call Ryan and check up on him. He wished he could call Sara to tell her about everything that had happened, but he knew she was going to be out of town for a few days working on a BuzzFeed shoot and would have her phone off while they were on location. No matter. He would call her later.

He sat at his kitchen table where his laptop was. Then he took a deep breath, and opened it.

 _Here I go,_ he thought.

He pulled up Google and looked for personal accounts of demonic possessions. Dozens of videos popped up, some of them were, he observed, schoolgirls in the Philippines allegedly being possessed by demons and other supernatural beings that lived near their communities.

He felt like such a fool. Ryan had already done this kind of research in the past for Supernatural and had generously offered to educate Shane, but like the arrogant son-of-a-bitch he was, he had declined. He wouldn't have needed to look this up himself if he had listened.

He sat in front of his laptop for hours, watching videos of demonic possessions, surveillance footage of houses that people claimed were haunted that they uploaded themselves to YouTube, interviews of people who have had supernatural encounters.

He recalled everything that he remembered Ryan claimed to have heard or seen while they filmed episodes of Supernatural since they started doing this.

It made sense. Ryan wasn't just being crazy, or excited, or paranoid. Everything he had ever said was consistent with everything these other people on Shane's laptop screen claimed they have experienced.

As the hands of the wall clock ticked by, something that no one ever thought would happen, started happening:

Shane Madej's militant skepticism of the supernatural and the paranormal began to ebb away.

He picked up his phone, which he saw was now at 100%, so he could call TJ first before he called Ryan to tell him what happened that morning at Ryan's apartment. That Ryan did not remember a thing that happened after the Ouija board and that he thought they all went out for a drink that night.

Shane didn't even get to speak when TJ picked up the phone and said, "Oh good, Shane, I was about to call you."

"Why? What's up?" TJ sounded panicked and out of breath.

"It's Ryan. You need to come to the office. Now."

-end of Chapter Six-


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shane calls Father Thomas for help as things take a turn for the worse.

Shane almost dropped his phone.

"Wh-what? What's happened to him?"

"Dude! Just come down here. Hurry!" TJ said, almost frantically.

Shane didn't even bother putting on shoes--he grabbed his car keys from the coffee table in his living room (where he always left them) and ran out the door in his flip-flops. He made it to the office in record time, even with LA traffic.

It was a Saturday night at 10pm, which meant the office was empty. Even though Saturdays weren't mandatory workdays, a lot of people still chose to go to the office to catch up on work during weekends, Ryan included. But most of them would have already gone home by 6pm.

Thankfully, TJ was already standing by the front doors. Shane had barely opened his mouth when he said, "He's in the break room."

The two of them jogged to the break room. From twenty feet away, Shane could see through the glass wall that Ryan was lying down on the couch, having what looked like a seizure.

"Jesus Christ," Shane said. "What's happening to him?"

"We don't know," Andrew Ilnyckyj, one-third of _Worth It,_ said. "We were just here in the break room talking then suddenly..." Being at a loss for words, Andrew simply pointed to him. "Thankfully he was already on the couch."

Ryan was convulsing and frothing at the mouth. Shane felt so helpless. His heart sank at having to see Ryan like this.

And in the back of his mind, he knew... this was all his fault.

"We already called an ambulance but... it's LA. They're gonna be a while. I figured since you stayed the night at his house you were the best person to call."

Shane looked at TJ.

"And we both saw what happened to him in that house."

Shane sighed. "I know."

Suddenly, Ryan's convulsing stopped.

"Oh, thank God. Is it over?" Andrew asked.

"Ryan! Ryan!" Shane prodded him gently, trying to wake him. "Yeah, he's passed out alright."

In the distance, ambulance sirens wailed. They all realized the ambulance and paramedics arrived sooner than TJ had anticipated. He and Shane rushed to the front doors to meet the paramedics while Andrew stayed behind with Ryan.

"Where is he?" a paramedic asked. They led the two paramedics to the office break room.

"What happened again?" Paramedic 1 asked.

"He had a seizure, then passed out."

Paramedic 1 then checked Ryan's pulse and heartbeat, as well as his breathing rate.

"Look, he seems fine to us. If he's not an epileptic then the seizure is weird, but he doesn't look like he needs any emergency help. When he wakes up ask him if he might've taken anything he was allergic to, then take him to a doctor."

"It's LA, man. There are people who need our help more than he does right now, so we'll be on our way," Paramedic 2 said.

The paramedics then left as abruptly as they had arrived.

"So what now?" Andrew asked.

"Do you think this has anything to do with..."

Suddenly, a voice came out of Ryan's mouth that they all knew was not his.

"HIS SOUL IS MINE. YOU WEAK MORTALS CANNOT GET HIM BACK. HIS SOUL SHALL FOREVER BURN IN HELL."

Shane closed his eyes. He pressed his palms to his eyes, making him see stars. He had been an atheist all his life, but if there was a God, he begged him to spare his friend. To spare him from something he had enabled in the first place.

Ryan then passed out again, which wasn't much of a surprise to Shane and TJ by then. Not that they were experts on demonic possessions by any means.

"What the actual fuck just happened?" Andrew asked. This startled Shane, as it was the exact same thought he had the night before, word for word.

"I- we don't know," Shane said uncertainly. Should he tell the truth? Or make up an excuse? Should he tell someone outside of their trio?

If only he could talk to Ryan and asked him what he thought he should do.

"Oh, for fuck's sake, Shane!" TJ exclaimed, startling both Shane and Andrew. "Are you seriously trying to keep this under wraps right now? Ryan could be in danger."

"I thought you didn't believe in the paranormal," Shane said.

"That's besides the point. I don't... exactly know what's going on with Ryan, only that I know there's something wrong with him." He turned to Andrew. "Last night we were at an Unsolved shoot at this house in Pasadena. Owner said it was haunted by two girls who died there in the 70's. They were in the middle of a Ouija board session when Ryan passed out, then he suddenly did the exact same thing he did just now. He yelled all kinds of demonic shit in this scary deep voice." He turned back to Shane. "Don't you think we should tell someone about this? Get help?"

"TJ, I don't know! I've never had anyone I know be possessed by a demon or act anything like this, so I don't exactly know the protocol now, do I?"

"Well, how did he seem to you last night? This morning?"

"I fell asleep a few hours after you left, just as the sun was rising. Then he shook me awake a couple hours later. He was perfectly fucking normal. As if nothing had happened. This is what I was about to tell you when I called you. He said he doesn't remember anything about last night, just that we shot the episode and we left. I had to lie to him and say that we all went out for a drink and that I was too hammered so I crashed at his place and he believed me."

"Jesus Christ, this is weird," Andrew said.

"I'm afraid to move him. But he can't stay here overnight," TJ said. "And I don't wanna leave him alone either."

"Maybe we should take him to my house instead, watch over him. When he wakes up, we'll let him know what's going on," Shane said. He and TJ turned to Andrew. "Look, Andrew. We'd appreciate if you didn't tell anyone about this just yet."

"Yeah, whatever. Just... tell me if he's okay."

"Will do."

Shane and TJ then carried Ryan out of the building, Andrew trailing behind them. They laid Ryan in the backseat of Shane's car, then the three of them climbed in to their respective cars, Andrew going home, Shane also going home, with TJ following behind him.

"Okay, let's just lay him down here," Shane said, helping TJ carry Ryan to his couch. He then grabbed a blanket and a pillow from his closet, putting the pillow underneath Ryan's head and draping the blanket over him. He and TJ sat on chairs they had placed next to the couch and stared at Ryan for a while, as if he could wake up any minute. 

After a while, TJ spoke. "What the fuck do you think is going on, Shane?" he said, in a hushed voice as to not wake up Ryan.

Shane sighed. "I honestly don't know. I really don't." He stared at Ryan for a few seconds then looked at TJ. "But it's my fault."

"What do you mean?"

"I- I picked that place, TJ. I was the one who chose that house in Pasadena. And Ryan only let me because he... _cared_ about what I thought. I just wanted him to get off my back, that even though I don't care about what we do in the show I wanted him to know that I was still putting in effort, and he let me because he thought I cared for once. It was selfish. And now this is happening to him."

"I don't think it's your fault, Shane. Yeah, you were kind of being a dick, but... it's not like you asked any ghosts or demons or whatfuckingever to possess Ryan. You couldn't have known what was going to happen."

"Either way, I have to put a stop to this now. Before it gets worse. It doesn't matter what we believe about the paranormal, whether demonic possessions are real, but we _have_ to help Ryan, right now. This stuff... this is _his_ department, not mine." Shane stared into space, lost in thought. "We could go back to the office and look at his research notes? Research on how to handle potential demonic possessions?" he asked. "Knowing him, he must have _something_ that could help."

"Nah, there's no time for that. The notes would be stored in _his_ computer, and _he_ would be the only one who'd know the password. Even if we call tech, they wouldn't call us back until Monday morning," TJ replied.

"Shit," Shane said under his breath.

"What would Ryan do?" TJ muttered to himself.

Shane abruptly looked up. "Exactly! That's it!" he exclaimed. "What would Ryan do in this situation? Obviously he'd believe that this _was_ a demonic possession. So he'd call someone like Father Thomas for help, right?"

"Yeah, I guess so. But he's all the way in San Jose. Even if you call him right now, it's 11pm and he's probably already asleep."

Shane shook his head. "I don't care. We have to try. I'm gonna see what he can do to help us even just over the phone. This is _Ryan_ we're talking about," Shane said determinedly. He got his phone out of his jeans pocket. "Stay here with him while I go make this call," he said to TJ, then went to his bedroom and closed the door behind him. He wouldn't be able to focus standing a foot away from Ryan's unconscious body.

"Pick up, Father Thomas, pick up," he muttered. Suddenly there was a click. "Hello?" a bleary voice said.

"Hello, Father Thomas? This is Shane Madej, from BuzzFeed. Do you remember me?"

"Ahh, the skeptic! Yes, how could I forget?" Father Thomas said, his voice sounding a bit clearer and more awake. "What can I do for you at this time of night? Are you and Ryan still investigating the paranormal even though I warned you not to?" he asked teasingly. 

"Actually... yes. That's _exactly_ why I'm calling. Ryan's... in trouble. You know me as the guy who doesn't believe in this stuff but..." Shane closed his eyes and sighed at the fact that the next thing he was about to say was against everything he had believed in all his life. "I think he's been possessed by a demon."

Father Thomas scoffed. "Are you joking? I don't mind pranks, Mr. Madej, but it's kind of late for an old man like me-"

"No, no, no, Father Thomas, this is serious! This is not a prank. I'm really concerned for my friend right now. Exactly one day ago we were shooting an episode in this allegedly haunted house in Pasadena. Three girls were conducting a demonic ritual, two of them were found dead and one of them went missing. It was never solved. Ryan and I used a Ouija board to contact their spirits and that's when he seemingly got possessed. You're the only one I know who knows how to handle this. I know it's not likely you'll be able to come down here but-"

"SHAAAANE?" Just then, Shane heard TJ's voice call out for him from the living room. "GET OUT HERE NOW!"

Shane flung open his bedroom door without ending the call with Father Thomas. He ran to the living room with his phone still in his hand.

TJ was standing in front of the couch, the chair he was sitting on before overturned on the floor. Shane's eyes followed to what TJ was staring at. His jaw promptly dropped, the sight before him something he would never forget as long as he was still breathing.

There in front of him and TJ, was Ryan Bergara, levitating above the couch in an upright position, his head almost hitting the ceiling, his mouth open and his eyes glowing white.

-end of Chapter Seven-


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shane looks for some answers.

Ryan fell back on to the couch a few seconds after Shane got to the living room, his mouth and eyes closing simultaneously. He fell almost violently, his head making a _thump_ sound on the back of the couch. He laid there like a rag doll, his head sliding off.

Shane and TJ ran to him, making sure he wasn't injured and carefully putting him back to the position they laid him in before.

"Hello? Hello?" Shane heard Father Thomas' tinny voice still on his phone. He put it back up next to his ear. "I'm here, Father Thomas."

"I heard someone call for you, was that Ryan?"

"Father Thomas," Shane said slowly, still staring at Ryan as TJ adjusted his pillow, "how soon can you get here?"

"What?"

"That wasn't Ryan, that was our friend TJ. He called me to my living room because Ryan was floating above the couch where he was lying before. His eyes were glowing. I'm no expert but now I'm a hundred percent sure that this isn't normal, and that this isn't some sort of mental breakdown that's making him act out like this. Whatever's causing this is out of this world."

"I-I'll see what I can do. San Jose is five hours by car so I'm going to check flights and get the earliest one. I'll start packing. Text me your address."

"Thank you so much, Father Thomas. I'll see you soon, hopefully."

He hung up.

TJ looked at him. Shane thought he looked like he'd aged a hundred years since he saw TJ last night for their filming. He thought he probably did too, if he could see himself in a mirror.

"Shane. What the fuck is going on?" TJ asked, his voice trembling.

Shane licked his lips, noticing how dry and crusty they were. He stomped to his kitchen and got a glass of water. He gulped it down.

TJ stared at him as he immediately bent over his sink and vomited the water that he had just drank.

~

Shane looked out his bedroom window. The sun was now rising over Los Angeles, casting the sky in a fiery red glow.

Approximately seven hours earlier, he tried to make TJ go home. He knew TJ was Ryan's friend too, but he didn't want to burden anyone else with something that was essentially his fault. "Get some rest, TJ," he said. TJ glared at him, his eyes bloodshot, and growled, "I'm not going anywhere, Shane. I'm not abandoning Ryan. Or you."

Shane was too stressed out to be touched.

"So what are we gonna do? We should check him in to a hospital, right?" TJ asked.

"And say what? They're gonna ask us what's wrong with him, do you think they're gonna believe us? You heard those paramedics, there's nothing _medically_ wrong with him. And if we do get him to a hospital, they're going to want to call his next of kin, his family, do you think we should put them through this already? This is something supernatural, TJ, and I hate to say it, but... they're just gonna get in the way. We can't do anything until Father Thomas gets here."

But standing there in his living room, he made a decision.

Thankfully, after the levitation incident, nothing else happened. Ryan was still unconscious. Shane got out the sleeping bag he used whenever he and Ryan slept over on location and laid it out on the floor next to the couch for TJ. "Wake me up if anything happens," he said to TJ. Then he padded over to his bedroom and turned off the light.

He checked his phone, hoping for a text from Father Thomas, letting him know if he was able to book a flight. Nothing. He texted Father Thomas his address.

There was nothing in the world he wanted more in that moment than to call his girlfriend Sara. He pressed the Contacts app and scrolled down, his thumb hovering over her name, but decided against it. She was asleep and out of town, and he didn't want to burden her with something he knew she wasn't going to be able to help him with.

 _If nothing changes, I'll tell her soon,_ he thought.

Just then, his phone _pinged_ and a notification for a text message appeared on the screen. It was Father Thomas, saying the earliest flight he found was leaving at 6am. That meant he would land in LA around 7, and get to Shane's house around 8. Maybe even later.

Shane sighed. He really hoped Father Thomas would get there sooner, but he knew it was unrealistic. He texted him back and said thanks.

He looked at the time at the top of his screen. It was 12:43am. He knew it was too late to make the call he had decided on earlier if he wanted to be polite, but screw it. He had to do this now.

He dialed Jasmine's phone number.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Jasmine. I'm sorry to call so late."

"That's okay, my husband and I were just having some wine. What's up?"

"I know you're still in Long Beach at your in-laws' which is why I had to call you. Listen, the Mrs Hamilton you were talking about, she was the actual previous owner of the house?"

"M-hmm. Why?"

"Is there a chance you know where to find her? I need to get a hold of her. It's important."

"I don't know an exact address but my real estate agent mentioned she lived somewhere in Santa Monica. That's all I know. What's this about?"

"It's a long story. Do you have her phone number at least?" Shane asked.

"Uhh, yeah, the real estate agent gave it to me just in case, if there was any problem about the house. I'll text it to you."

"Thanks, Jasmine. Sorry I don't have the time to explain right now. And your house is fine. Bye."

Shane clicked on the Safari app on his phone and Googled the Los Angeles county phonebook. It was a long shot, he knew. But he had to at least try.

He entered the phone number Jasmine had texted to him, hoping it would be listed.

After a moment, Shane sighed in relief.

~

After looking at the sunrise for a moment, he checked his phone to look at the time. 5:57am. He didn't know how early was too early to drive to an old lady's house and demand some answers from her.

He slept, but barely. His mind drifted in and out of nightmares during the five hours between his call to Jasmine and the time the sun rose. Nightmares about Ryan, where insects crawled out of his mouth. Ryan slitting TJ's throat right there in his living room. Things like that.

TJ never woke him up, which Shane took to mean nothing else had happened. He did the math in his head. Ryan had been unconscious for around eight hours. He got more sleep (if you can even call it that) getting possessed by a demon than all the times they had slept over at haunted locations. He chuckled at the absurdity of it all. 

Shane stood up, deciding he couldn't wait any longer. He didn't care if it was too early, that he could possibly be disturbing some old woman who didn't even know anything.

But he had to try. He couldn't live with himself if he didn't at least try. He had to do it for Ryan.

He opened his door and went to the living room. Both Ryan and TJ were still asleep. Nothing looked out of the ordinary. He grabbed a pad of Post-Its from the kitchen counter and wrote a note for TJ in case he woke up and Shane still wasn't there.

 _Went to Santa Monica to talk to previous owner of house. Father Thomas will be here at around 8-8:30. Call if you need me. -S_ He stuck the note on the coffee table.

Shane went back to his room to change and put some shoes on. He grabbed his keys and went out the front door, closing it gently so as to not wake anyone up.

~

The drive took less than half an hour. Shane took a right turn into the street the Los Angeles County phonebook had coughed up for the phone number. An _E. Hamilton._

On a row of old but quaint houses, a woman with graying hair was watering the flowers in her front yard, oblivious to the man parking his car right across the street from her.

Shane turned off the engine. He swallowed, then realized that his throat ached.

"Are you Mrs Hamilton?" he asked when he reached her front yard.

The woman narrowed her eyes and looked at him suspiciously. "Depends on who's asking. You a cop?"

Shane shook his head. "Far from it. I'm a video producer."

"You make movies or something?"

"Something."

The woman turned off the hose she was using to water her daisies. "Who are you?"

"I'm Shane Madej. My friend's in trouble. You were the previous owner of the house at 312 Orchard Street in Pasadena? He's in trouble because of that house. I'm here to get some answers. _Please._ "

Mrs Hamilton stared at Shane for a moment. She must've seen something desperate in his eyes as she put her hose down and gestured to her front door.

"Okay, well, I don't know what this is about, but the sooner I let you say your piece, the sooner you get out of here, right?" Mrs Hamilton said as they sat in the living room.

"Yeah. You sold a house to Bradley and Jasmine Francisco, is that right?"

"Sweet Filipino couple. Around two years ago, yes. What about them?"

"You told Jasmine about the demonic ritual that those girls did back in '74 and that the house is haunted because of it. Do you know anything else about what happened? Anything that could help? Do you know how I can track down the people who owned the house before you?"

"I'm sorry but I don't know anything more, I can't help you." Somewhere in the house, a phone rang. "Excuse me, I have to take this call," Mrs Hamilton said as she stood up. She pointed to the front door. "Now if you would please show yourself the door." She left the living room.

Shane wasn't leaving without answers. He had a feeling Mrs Hamilton knew more than she was letting on. He stayed put.

He felt like he was sitting on something hard under the couch cushion. He knew it wasn't any of his business, but he already didn't trust this woman. He stood up and lifted the couch cushion, where he found what looked like a leather photo album.

He took it and flipped it open. 

Inside were newspaper clippings, clippings from defunct newspapers that never got to digitize their articles. **Search for teen Rachel Platt, discontinued,** said one. **Mystery behind Pasadena demonic ritual slayings, still unsolved,** said another. Shane turned the pages.

They were all clippings about what happened in that house, over forty years ago.

Shane found it hard to breathe. 

The last clipping contained what looked like yearbook photos of Rachel Platt, Hannah Green, and Blaire Rodriguez, side by side. They were in black and white, and grainy.

Shane stared at the one of Rachel. He could hear Mrs Hamilton still talking on the phone somewhere in the house.

His stomach dropped as he came to a realization.

If Rachel Platt was aged forty-five years older... she would look a lot like Mrs Hamilton.

"What the hell are you doing?"

Mrs Hamilton was now standing right in front of Shane. He looked from the photo in the clipping then up to her face, right there in front of him. He was sure.

"It's you."

Mrs Hamilton blinked, her face devoid of all emotion.

" _You're_ Rachel Platt. All these years, and you were right here under everyone's noses."

Mrs Hamilton sat back in the armchair she was sitting in before and sighed. Shane stared at her in disbelief, the photo album still in his hands, which were now damp with sweat.

Shane shut the album closed and sat down. He put it on the coffee table.

"So tell me, Mrs Hamilton, Platt, whatever your name is. Tell me what really happened in that house. Because what you and your friends did, it has something to do with what's happening to my friend _right now._ And I'm not leaving until I get some answers, because whatever you tell me, it could be useful."

Mrs Hamilton pursed her lips. "The E stands for Edna. That's how you found me, right?"

"What?"

"The phonebook. That's where you looked for me."

Shane stared at her instead of answering.

Edna exhaled through her mouth. She looked away. "That's what I changed my name to. Edna MacIntyre. It became Hamilton when I got married. That was the only way I knew to make sure they wouldn't ever find me. Or at least have a hard time finding me, buy me some time. Then you showed up."

Shane felt himself getting a headache.

"Those bitches deserved what they got. But I didn't do it to them."

"So what actually happened, Edna?"

"They were bullies. Hannah and Blaire. To them I was their pack-mule. Did their dirty work for them. They were these fuckin' occultist...Satanic...witch wannabes. That summer they were bored because of course they were. No kids for them to bully. They knew my parents were going to be out of town for a week, so they told me they were going over to my house that night to summon a demon. Just for shits and giggles. I let them into my house because I wanted out of their little clique, and I thought maybe if I did this last favour for them, they'd let me go easy. They came in with this bag, probably filled with whatever stuff they needed to do the ritual. Candles and things like that. They wanted to do it in my room, so I let them. I sat there on the floor while they set up and I didn't want to take part in any of it--even though I didn't believe in that stuff-"

 _A skeptic, just like me,_ Shane thought.

"-it still creeped the shit out of me. They giggled and called me a coward. But I was fine with that. I went downstairs to watch TV instead. I could hear them chanting something, but I ignored it. I was so distracted by what I was watching that I didn't even notice that the chanting had stopped and it was dead quiet in my room until the show ended. I turned off the TV and climbed back up to my room. When I got there they were both lying dead on the floor, both of their throats slit open. Blood everywhere. I don't know how they did it...but they must've slit each other's throats or slit their own throats or something like that because I saw two knives lying on the floor. I knew it was some demonic ritual that went too far. In the end, it was them who did it to themselves. Nobody else."

Shane massaged his temples.

"I couldn't get my things out of my closet because I would contaminate the room somehow, step in their blood or something. So I didn't get to pack. I hitch-hiked with only the clothes in my back and the cash from my parents' safe. It was the middle of the night and they told their parents they'd be staying somewhere for the night. Nobody would look for them until at least the next day so I had a headstart. I cut and dyed my hair, laid low, introduced myself to strangers with fake names. I got as far as Florida. I worked and got married and had some semblance of a normal life, though I never had kids. I felt sorry for my parents though, running away like that. But they were better off without me. Even though it was the location of a horrific...crime, or accident, or whatever you want to call it, they stayed in that house until they died. When I heard they passed away, I wanted to move back, but didn't act on it. Then after a few years, my husband died too and I knew there was nothing keeping me in Florida, so I moved back to California, and bought the house. I don't even know why. Guilt, maybe? For leaving my parents? I don't know. Of course, the money eventually ran out, so I sold the house to that couple."

"So why didn't you call the police? Or call for help from _anyone?_ "

"Why, so I could be accused of killing them? They were in _my_ house, in _my_ room. No one else was around. I knew the first person the police would look at was me. They were the two most popular girls in the school and they would never make a suicide pact and kill themselves. Even with the bullying, the adults still saw them as these perfect little angels, so nobody knew about their obsession with witchcraft but me. They would think I put those things in my room to make it look like they killed themselves for a ritual when it was me who killed them all along, even though that's _exactly_ what happened--they killed themselves for some phony ritual. And I knew the police would pin it on me."

"But it wasn't phony, Edna. Because whatever they summoned in that ritual, it's real. It possessed my friend."

"And I have nothing to do with that. I gave you answers. I'm sorry about your friend, but there's nothing I can do."

~

Shane left Edna's house-- _what do I even call her? Edna? Rachel?_ \--feeling overwhelmed. It was now after 7 in the morning. The morning rush hour was here.

After an hour, Shane reached his apartment block, where he saw Father Thomas getting out of a cab, a backpack slung over his shoulder. _Oh, thank God._

"Father Thomas!" Shane yelled. They ran towards each other. "Thank God you're here."

"I'd say it's nice to see you again, Shane, but given the circumstances-"

"Oh, definitely, this is a _terrible_ way to see each other again," Shane said. He laughed, knowing he sounded crazy to Father Thomas right then.

He got out his keys and unlocked the door.

He opened the door and he and Father Thomas stepped inside.

In the kitchen, Ryan and TJ were sitting at the table, eating breakfast. It looked like a normal Sunday morning.

Shane blinked. The fact that he saw Ryan floating in mid-air just nine hours before but now he was eating breakfast looking as normal as can be gave him whiplash.

"Father Thomas?" Ryan asked. "What are you doing here?" 

-end of Chapter Eight-


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shane tells Ryan the truth.

Before Father Thomas could respond, Shane said, "Ryan, you're awake! Father Thomas is in Los Angeles for a conference and I told him I'd let him stay in my house." He then looked at TJ. "TJ, could I talk to you and Father Thomas for a second? Go on and finish your eggs, Ryan."

He then ushered the two of them into his room and closed the door behind him.

"What happened this morning? How was he when he woke up?" Shane asked TJ.

"I woke up around 7, he woke up about twenty minutes ago. He was normal, just a little confused why he's at your house. I told him we went here to go over some work last night that was only on _your_ laptop so he wouldn't ask why neither of us had ours, and that we stayed up late and decided to crash here. It's a shitty story but he bought it. Then I offered to make breakfast," TJ replied.

Shane sighed in relief. "Okay, good."

"What happened with you? Did you get to talk to the previous owner? Did they say anything that could be useful at all? Anything that could help us track down the original owners?"

"It wasn't just any person that happened to own the house before the Franciscos. It was Rachel Platt herself. Turns out she's been living under a new identity and moved back to Pasadena a few years after her parents died, then sold the house to the Franciscos a couple of years ago and moved to Santa Monica. She's been here all along."

"Holy shit. What did she tell you?" TJ asked.

Shane gestured to his bed. "Father Thomas, have a seat." Father Thomas obliged, putting his backpack on his lap.

"If you remember what I told you on the phone last night, there was one girl who went missing that night. That was the woman I got to talk to this morning. It turns out she had no part in the ritual--if what she said was true. Her two friends conducted a demonic ritual in her bedroom while she was in the living room. When she went back to check on them, they were already both dead, their throats slit. She knew the police would pin it on her so she ran away and made up a new identity for herself. I asked her about the thing that's possessed Ryan and she said she doesn't know anything about it... because as I said, she wasn't actually part of the ritual. I found out what happened that night, but that information has not helped me in knowing what to do about Ryan." Shane hung his head.

Father Thomas stood up and patted Shane on the arm. "Don't worry, Shane. God has given me the strength to help Ryan today, and He has given Ryan the strength to hold on to himself. But I think it's time we tell him the truth."

Shane opened the door and the three of them stepped out of his bedroom.

Ryan had just finished his breakfast. His plate was empty save for traces of egg yolk. "TJ told me we were going over something you were working on last night. I have no idea what it is though because I don't remember _anything,_ " Ryan said sheepishly.

"Ryan. That's not really why you're here," TJ confessed.

"And Father Thomas isn't here because he has a conference," Shane added. "Ryan, please don't freak out over what I'm about to tell you," he said carefully, "but he's here because you've been possessed. By what is most likely a demon."

Ryan stared at them, dumbfounded, his jaw open. "What?"

"Okay. So remember the episode we were filming? Just this Friday, two days ago?" Shane couldn't believe the words that had just come out of his mouth. It's only been two days since this started, yet it felt like two months. "It was a haunted house in Pasadena. It was haunted by the spirits of two girls that died while conducting a demonic ritual. They had a friend with them who went missing. We conducted a Ouija board session in the house, in the exact room where they conducted the demonic ritual, over forty years ago. The Ouija board probably let the demon possess you, because it lets us contact the spirit world. And Father Thomas is here to perform an exorcism."

During all of this, Ryan just stared at Shane, his expression unreadable. Then he laughed. "I don't believe you."

"Ryan, I am not joking around. I'm being serious. If I wasn't, Father Thomas wouldn't be here. He's here to help you."

Ryan laughed some more. Then his laugh turned into a cackle. And his voice started to get deeper. "I DON'T BELIEVE YOU!" he yelled angrily, with a voice that they all knew was not his.

He stood up violently, letting the chair fall to the floor behind him, and flipped Shane's dining table, sending plates and silverware flying. He stomped over to Shane and grabbed him by the neck, lifting him in the air. Ryan suddenly had superhuman strength, and this fact was what let Shane, TJ, and Father Thomas know that this person was not Ryan.

TJ stood there, paralyzed. Father Thomas unzipped his backpack frantically, looking for his holy water and his prayer book. Shane's legs dangled in the air, his hands desperately trying to peel off Ryan's hand around his neck, to no avail.

"WHERE IS RACHEL PLATT?" the voice coming out of Ryan's mouth asked. "WHERE IS SHE?"

His face was turning purple. He could not breathe. He couldn't beg Ryan, or whatever was using Ryan's body, to let go of him because he couldn't speak either.

Dark spots began to form before his eyes. And eventually, everything turned to black.

~

_"Oop, sorry!" Shane said to the driver of the car that almost hit him while he was crossing the street. The driver pressed down on his car horn, which hurt Shane's ears, then angrily yelled, "WATCH IT!"_

_Shane finally reached the sidewalk. Although he wasn't a small-town boy by any means--Chicago was his hometown and it was still a major city after all--Los Angeles was a hundred times more hectic, it seemed like. It was morning, but he was already sweaty. It was his first day of work as an intern, and he couldn't catch a break._

_At last, he had reached the BuzzFeed Video office building. He was told to see someone named Ella Mielniczenko when he got there._

_"Hi, do you know where I could find Ella? I'm a new intern," he asked a guy wearing a Lakers hat standing near the door. Just a few feet away from them were desks and computers, with people wearing headphones and typing away on keyboards._

_Shane couldn't quite put his finger on what the guy's ethnicity was. He could be Asian, or Latino. Maybe both. But he wasn't ignorant enough to ask out of nowhere, because that would be rude and offensive._

_"Same here, man. Someone told me to just wait and that Ella would be here soon." The guy studied Shane more carefully. "Hey, you're pretty tall. What's your height?"_

_"Six-four," Shane replied._

_"Do you play basketball? Because you should."_

_Before Shane could tell him he had absolutely no interest in sports and that he'd been asked that question hundreds of times since his growth spurt as a 13-year-old, a woman with long, dark, curly hair walked over to them._

_"I'm Ella. I'm one of the managers here at BuzzFeed Video. You must be the new interns, right?"_

_"Yeah, I'm Shane Madej," Shane said as he put out his hand for Ella to shake._

_"I'm Ryan Bergara," said the guy wearing the Lakers cap._

_"Nice to meet you both. If you could follow me."_

_The two of them followed Ella to two desks next to each other near the back of the room. "These are your computers. I'm sure you were already briefed about your job description at your interviews, but just to remind you, as interns you're here to assist our video producers. This entails making phone calls, taking phone calls, taking inventory of equipment, helping scout locations, helping with video shoots, all of that stuff. Just sit tight--soon one of them is going to need your help, and they'll know to find you here. If there are any problems, I'll be in the meeting rooms all day." With that, Ella left and they both sat down._

_Shane and Ryan looked at each other. "So. How'd you end up applying at BuzzFeed?" Shane asked, an attempt to engage in small talk._

_"I just graduated from film school. One of my friends told me about this company, I looked them up, and thought 'why the hell not? I'll apply,'" Ryan replied._

_"Cool. I was just doing some production stuff back in Chicago. Not that different from this job, but I thought I'd move to LA, a change of scenery."_

_"So you're from Chicago, that's cool," Ryan said, nodding. It was obvious he couldn't think of anything else to say, and neither did Shane. After a few more seconds of silence, he was about to turn to his computer and log in to his employee email account when Ryan asked, in the most serious voice Shane had ever heard:_

_"Hey, man. Do you believe in ghosts?"_

_Shane almost laughed out loud, both at the fact Ryan asked this out of nowhere and at the randomness of this question. "Uhh... no. Why do you ask?"_

_"Because I was on this haunted ship when I was 17, and I caught a ghost on camera."_

_"I highly doubt that, but continue."_

_"Doubt? You don't believe me?"_

_"It doesn't matter if I believe you because ghosts aren't real. Whatever it is you saw, it most likely was not a ghost."_

_"That's the thing, it's not a ghost that I saw exactly, but a tube of toothpaste falling to the floor."_

_"Toothpaste? Wh-"_

_"Ahem."_

_Suddenly, a stern-faced BuzzFeed Video employee was standing next to them._

_Shane blushed, having gotten caught goofing around at his first day on the job. Ryan stood up and followed the video producer, volunteering for whatever task interns had to do. He barely saw Ryan again throughout the work day, but they managed to exchange phone numbers around lunchtime._

_Later that night, after Shane got home to his dingy apartment in Hollywood, he got a text from Ryan._

_**When I get promoted to video producer, I swear I'm going to do at least one video about ghosts. People need to be aware of their existence.** _

_Shane smiled to himself. He knew that with having Ryan as a co-worker, his time at BuzzFeed would be anything but boring._

~

"Shane? Are you awake?" a gentle voice asked.

Shane felt a smooth hand on his cheek. He was instantly comforted, even before realizing that the owner of the voice and hand was his girlfriend Sara.

He slowly opened his eyes. Sara's face, which was glad and worried all at the same time, occupied his entire sightline, and at that his eyes filled with tears. He didn't realize just how much he missed her until she came back.

"Sara. So much has happened--God, I don't even know where to begin-"

"Shane, calm down. Just relax. TJ and Father Thomas told me everything that's happened," Sara said.

Shane sat up and blinked, trying to wake himself up even more. He realized that he was on his couch. Behind Sara, he could see his dining table was no longer on its side, and the shattered pieces of his plates and the silverware were now gone from the floor. Nearby were a broom and dustpan. He glanced at the clock--it was nearly 1:30pm.

"Sara. I'm sorry I kept all of this from you. I knew you were busy and there's nothing you could do-"

"It's okay, Shane. Really. I couldn't help you all the way from Portland. I'm just glad you're alright now."

"Where are they? Where's Ryan?"

"TJ and Father Thomas took him back to his house. Said it was best for him to recover at his own house instead of here. Father Thomas said the exorcism could be successful, but that he was going to watch over Ryan just in case."

"Oh, God. I can't believe these past couple of days were real. I-I need to go over there, check up on him-"

"No, Shane. You passed out because whatever possessed Ryan strangled you. TJ said he and Father Thomas managed to get Ryan off of you, but just barely. You're staying here. You need some rest."

"But I've been unconscious the entire day."

"Exactly. You were in danger, Shane. TJ and Father Thomas both told me not to let you go over there. This has been too much. If they do need us there, they'll call us."

Shane closed his eyes, too tired to rebel. "I'm glad you're back. I missed you," he said.

"I missed you too," Sara said, putting her head on Shane's shoulder.

Shane buried his face in Sara's hair, and breathed her in.

-end of Chapter Nine-


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shane makes a decision.

While Shane was unconscious, this was what he missed:

Just after he passed out, TJ snapped out of his paralysis and he and Father Thomas leapt into action--Ryan was strong enough to lift Shane with one hand but not strong enough to withstand two men who were bigger than him. To Father Thomas' credit, even being in his mid-fifties, he was physically capable enough to help TJ restrain Ryan.

Shane fell to the floor. TJ held Ryan's arms behind his back so he wouldn't be able to move and go after Shane. Father Thomas grabbed Shane by the armpits and hauled him to the couch. He checked Shane's pulse--he was alive. Father Thomas quickly prayed in his head, thanking God.

"WHERE IS RACHEL PLATT?" the demonic voice within Ryan asked again. 

"We don't know where she is! Only Shane knows and you strangled him almost to death!" TJ yelled. Father Thomas gestured for TJ to make Ryan sit down on the chair next to the couch. He clamped his hands down on Ryan's shoulders--he knew possessed-Ryan was strong enough, but he had to at least try to restrain him in any way he could.

Father Thomas had a small bottle of holy water and a tattered prayerbook in his hands, and a rosary wound around his right palm. He quickly flipped through the prayer book and started praying under his breath in Latin.

The thing inside Ryan grew more aggravated. "AAAUUUUURRRGGGGHHHH," it screamed. "WHERE IS RACHEL PLATT? SHE MIGHT HAVE GOTTEN AWAY ALL THOSE YEARS AGO--BUT NOW THAT YOU HAVE BRIDGED THE UNDERWORLD AND EARTH ONCE AGAIN, I MUST HAVE HER. TELL ME WHERE SHE IS."

Father Thomas' prayer got louder. He dangled the cross from his rosary right in front of Ryan's face.

The thing inside Ryan screamed again.

Father Thomas then held out his bottle of holy water and began sprinkling it onto Ryan.

Ryan's screams turned into shrieks. TJ felt chills running up and down his spine. His vision started getting blurry. But he needed to stay strong. For both Ryan _and_ Shane. 

Father Thomas' Latin prayers streamed steadily out of his mouth. It didn't seem like he paused for breath.

Ryan's face turned as red as a Los Angeles sunset, sweat drenching his face. Father Thomas held out the rosary closer to his face.

After what seemed like hours, the room turned silent, almost making TJ and Father Thomas think they were having a shared delusion. Ryan's head fell to his chest, his eyes closed, as if he fell asleep on a car ride.

"Oh my God. Is it over? Tell me it's over," TJ said, more to himself than to Father Thomas.

"God-willing, it's finally over. But we must watch over him a while longer, maybe until tomorrow. This could be a trick."

Just then, a phone rang somewhere in the house. It was Shane's phone. In his hurry to get dressed that morning, he had left it in his bedroom.

TJ looked at it. It was Sara Rubin calling. "Hello?"

"H-hello? TJ? What are you doing answering Shane's phone?"

"Uhh... something has happened. Shane is fine, he just can't answer his phone right now. Where are you, Sara?"

"I just got back from Portland. I'm in an Uber, like half an hour away from Shane's apartment. I was calling to tell him the shoot finished early and I'm coming home today. What happened, TJ?" Sara asked, worry in her voice.

"It's best I tell you in person instead of over the phone. I'm in Shane's apartment. We'll be waiting for you."

Before Sara could say anything more, TJ hung up Shane's phone.

"That was Shane's girlfriend Sara," TJ told Father Thomas. He started pacing around the apartment nervously. "Oh God, what would we even say to her? She's a skeptic like Shane--well, before this all happened. I'm pretty sure Shane's not a skeptic anymore. And neither am I. Would she even believe us? This is all too much," TJ said, his hands on his head in frustration.

Father Thomas went to Shane's kitchen. He got out two glasses from the cupboard and filled them with water. He handed one to TJ. "I don't know what your religious beliefs are, TJ. But the fact that we've managed to exorcise this demon out of Ryan is proof that God has been with us the whole way, protecting us. Once Sara arrives, we'll tell her the truth."

Approximately half an hour later, there was a knock on the door. TJ opened it to find Sara standing there with a small suitcase behind her and a duffel bag on her shoulder, an anxious look on her face. She peered over TJ's shoulder to see Shane unconscious on the couch and Ryan also unconscious on the chair next to it. "What the hell's going on? Are they drunk or something?"

Sara entered Shane's apartment, TJ closing the door behind her. "Father Thomas. You're here," she said uncertainly. "Now I'm even more confused."

TJ led Sara to Shane's dining table in the kitchen. "Sara," TJ began, "I know you're a skeptic like Shane, so you might not believe us when we tell you that Ryan has been possessed by a demon. And that he attacked Shane, and Father Thomas performed an exorcism on him, which is why they're both unconscious."

Sara only blinked. "Is this because of that Unsolved episode you guys were filming in Pasadena?"

"Yeah. How much has Shane told you?"

"Not much. I remember him telling me at dinner one night that the owner's daughter was reacting to a ghost and it kinda spooked him, but that's about it. He told me nothing about the research he's done about the house."

"Okay, well. Back in the 70's, two teenage girls conducted a demonic ritual in that house, while the girl who lived in it was there, but she wasn't a part of it. They did it in her bedroom, and when she got up to check on them they were both already dead. She ran away, changed her identity, moved to Florida, then she moved back just after her parents died and bought the house. Then a couple of years ago she sold it to the people who currently own it. She's been living in California this whole time. Shane tracked her down and that's what he found out. The demon who possessed Ryan, it's the demon the girls summoned, and while it was possessing him it was looking for Rachel Platt, the girl who ran away. Ryan lifted Shane up by the neck and choked him, but we managed to get him off and Shane passed out. Then Father Thomas exorcised the demon out of Ryan's body."

"But for the sake of making sure, I'll be keeping an eye on him overnight, in case the demon is persistent," Father Thomas interjected.

"Jesus Christ, this is a lot," Sara exhaled. "I wanna ask if this is somehow a really elaborate prank but from the looks on your faces, I know it's not."

"Trust me, this is not how I would want to be spending my Sunday morning," TJ replied.

"Does anybody else know? Like anyone from work?"

"Andrew Ilnyckyj. Ryan was having an episode while we were working late at the office last night and he was there. We had to tell him but he doesn't know anything about the real story behind the house, and we swore him to secrecy."

Sara sighed deeply. She rubbed her eyes. "Okay, so what are you gonna do now?"

"We're gonna take Ryan to his house and watch over him there. I don't think it's a good idea to keep him here--"

"TJ, I think you should go home, get some rest. I can watch over Ryan on my own," Father Thomas said.

TJ fell silent for a few seconds, knowing he desperately needed a break from the last two days but not wanting to leave Ryan, even if he did trust Father Thomas. Finally, he said, "Okay. But you call me the minute something goes wrong, okay, Father Thomas?"

"Of course. And that goes for Shane and Sara too. I'll call you when something comes up."

"Now, I think we have to get Ryan out of here. Father Thomas, I'll drive you and Ryan over to his apartment. I think his keys are in his pocket still." TJ turned to Sara. "Sara, I'm really sorry about all of this. Shane blames himself, said this wouldn't have happened if he didn't try to take over this episode of Unsolved. I already told him he shouldn't, that he couldn't have known what would happen. I'm glad you're home."

With that, he and Father Thomas lifted Ryan from the chair, putting his arms over each of their shoulders, leading him out of Shane's front door.

 

~

 

After that weekend, Shane had taken a leave of absence.

Sara knew he was trying not to show it, but that weekend took a bigger toll on him than he wanted to let on. Sara slept over, and she kept getting woken up in the middle of the night by Shane having a nightmare. She had to shake him awake and calm him down, reassure him that it was all a dream and that he was safe.

He had not gone to work in over a week. His phone kept vibrating with calls, messages, and notifications from co-workers asking where he was and why he hasn't been coming in to work. Some of them were even from Ryan, which meant the demon was finally gone and Father Thomas' exorcism was successful. He knew he should be elated that Ryan was back to normal after that nightmare of a weekend, but he found it hard to be. He felt numb, the guilt washing over him. He couldn't stop blaming himself for what had happened to Ryan.

Ryan kept texting and calling him, not obsessively, but at least once a day, mostly asking when he was coming back so they could continue working on the episode. All the files were saved on TJ's computer, and Shane asked him not to show Ryan a thing, at least not until he was there. Not that Shane had talked to him, but apparently Ryan had accepted that he was a victim of demonic possession once Father Thomas and TJ explained to him when he was finally awake. It did not make sense to Shane that Ryan just moved on with his life, as if nothing had happened.

One night, he said: "I think I'm gonna quit BuzzFeed."

Sara stared at him, taken aback but calm. "Okay. Why?"

"I just- I can't face what happened, Sara. I can't go back there and act like nothing happened, like I didn't just put _Ryan's life in danger._ No. I need to work somewhere else. I need to-"

"Have you talked to Ryan?"

"No. I've been avoiding his calls. I just want to get out of there, put it behind me."

"Look, Shane, I support whatever it is you decide to do. But don't you think you should talk to Ryan first? Just to get some closure?"

Later that night, he texted Ryan.

**Can we meet up tomorrow? Watch the sun rise?**

**Of course, man. See you.**

 

~

 

Ryan was already there when Shane arrived, standing next to his car at this little parking lot a couple of blocks from Shane's apartment. It had a gorgeous view of the sunrise, and they had discovered it a couple of years ago while pulling an all-nighter. 

"I heard you wanted to quit," Ryan said by way of greeting.

"Sara told you?"

"Yeah. She called me even before you texted me."

Shane laughed through his nose. Of course she did.

"All I can ask though is: why?"

"Because... you're better off without me, Ryan."

"What the hell are you talking about? We have this nice little thing going."

"Yeah. And I ruined it. You were right that I had to step up and be more passionate and enthusiastic about what we're doing, that I had to _care_ more. And when I tried to, I ruined everything. I put your life in danger, Ryan. That's not nothing. And I can't keep going back to that office without being reminded of how I fucked up. I don't think I'm ever going to be able to move on and forgive myself for this."

Ryan stared at him incredulously. 

"You're the heart and soul of this show, Ryan. You don't need me."

"That's not true, Shane, and you know it," Ryan said fiercely. "Don't quit. Please. I need you. We _all_ need you."

They stared at each other in silence. Finally, Ryan sighed. "Aren't you even gonna ask me how I took it? Finding out I was possessed by a demon?"

With that, Shane felt a pang of guilt. He wanted to hide his face in shame. "I'm sorry. I should've asked. I just... I didn't know how to talk to you about it. I was being selfish."

"No, I'm not mad, Shane. I get it. When I finally woke up, I couldn't remember _anything_ that happened, apart from a few, really blurry memories of seeing you asleep in my room, and... having breakfast with TJ, but they all felt like scenes from a dream. Not actual memories, you know? I saw Father Thomas in my bedroom, and when he explained everything that had happened over that weekend, about that house in Pasadena, my first instinct wasn't to cower in fear of that demon coming back, but..." Ryan chuckled softly to himself. "...But to rub it in your face. My first instinct was to tell you, as if you didn't have a front-row seat to that whole ordeal. You see, Shane, you make me braver. I need you for the show to work. We balance each other out. This show is nothing without you."

Shane looked at Ryan carefully, mulling over everything he said. Maybe it _was_ selfish of him to quit. Maybe what he could do to redeem himself was to stay at BuzzFeed and keep working with Ryan. How did he ever think that quitting was the right move? Quitting because he wanted to move on from what happened?

He changed his mind right there and then. He knew he had to stay and deal with it. Quitting wasn't going to help.

Shane grinned. 

"You know what, Ryan?"

"What?"

"This is the first time we've solved an unsolved case. I mean, Hannah and Blaire's deaths are still a little unclear, but we know what happened to Rachel Platt."

"Yeah, even though we can't tell anyone about it. I finally realized that last night. There's no way to spin it. We can't do an episode on it because of what happened to me. It's all unusable footage."

"TJ showed it to you?"

"No, I hacked into his computer when he forgot to turn it off at lunch and saved all of it to my flashdrive."

Shane chuckled. "We have this nice little thing going, don't we, Ryan?" he said, repeating back what Ryan said.

"Yeah. You're the skeptic and I'm the believer."

"That's the thing, though. I'm not a skeptic anymore. I saw everything, remember?"

"Holy shit. You're right."

"No, _you're_ right."

Ryan looked up at him, the orange glow of the sun reflecting off of Shane's face. It blinded him for a nanosecond.

"You were right all along, Ryan," Shane said, not looking at him but at the sun rising above them. "You've been right this whole time."

 

**-end-**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you're reading this, that means you've finished this fanfic. Congrats! (Or you just skimmed the entire work and found yourself here. Whatever.)
> 
> The idea for this fic came to me when I thought about this inside joke within the BFU fandom--that Shane is secretly a demon. I thought, _what if I flipped that around and made Ryan the demon?_ Of course, I wasn't going to write it like Ryan had been a demon all along--that would be too much of a leap from reality so I had to write it as him getting possessed. And I thought it would be cool that for the first time since they started the show, they would solve a mystery--even if they couldn't share it with anyone.


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